About

$34,501

pledged of $5,000 goal

892

backers

Eons ago, we were a desperate and different people, all vying for dominance of the galaxy. Fearful... Angry... Greedy... Shaped by petty desires... When the beings called Orisha came, they showed us a better way. They created Utopian worlds, Oruns, especially for us. These worlds and all the others of the galaxy flourished. The peoples of the galaxy were happy. They guided us to apotheosis, transcendence from the physical reality and expansion of our Ori.

Then, with a single stray thought, it was all torn apart. The mnemonic Sopona virus spread throughout the galaxy. Worlds fell into catatonic states, others hurt themselves in unspeakable ways, and all that stood against the psychic maelstrom was the Union of Ascendancy and some of the ascendant, the Oluru, who returned. Ultimately the war was won, the Sopona virus contained, and order restored... but the secret of apotheosis was lost.

That was over 500 years ago.

In Orun, you play an envoy of the ascendant Oluru, called a Djali or Luminary. Not quite ascendant themselves, the Luminaries travel to different worlds as advisers, troubleshooters, and peacekeepers in the post-apotheosis galaxy. They explore lost star systems and ultimately help enlighten worlds and their people, waking the galaxy from its disordered indolence.

ORUN pushes the Djali to the horizon. It's always in the distance, always beckoning you, driving you to greatness... thus the Horizon System was born. If you'd like more system info beyond this brief intro, feel free to check out (and join) the ORUN G+ Community.

Rolling Dice: The Horizon System is a 2d10 system and combines familiar mechanics with new innovations from the minds of our unique creative team. Each Luminary has trained their spirit to reflect their power, allowing them to add the strength of their Auras into their 14 uniquely-flexible skills. When faced with a task, you choose the most appropriate Aura and Skill, and add their values to your 2d10 and comparing the result to the Horizon Success Chart, after applying any Difficulty or Gear modifiers. Results can be anything from utter failure to even handing narrative control for the result to the player on a Legendary roll.

Character Creation: As each Djali is a being unto themselves, no character is simply a pool of points to spend. Instead, ORUN guides the player through a few important choices that create the bulk of your character, including your Species, your character's home world, and what their occupation was before choosing to become a Luminary. Each of these data points fills in an important piece of the puzzle that makes up you character and brings with it certain skills and special abilities, called Talents.

A Unified Experience: A goal with the Horizon System was to simplify the way everything works together, allowing the team to deliver a unified experience. There isn't one system for that thing, and another system for this thing. With a single system, a single vision in mind, we can deliver epic sci-fi moments to your table. And that's what ORUN is about in the end. You are a Luminary, and you are taking on a universe in chaos, hoping to set it right.

Our design team has worked tirelessly to bring this project to life. The final product is estimated to be 8.5x8.5 (yes, it’s square!!!), 275-300 pages, with full-color interior art, available in hardcover. As of the start of this campaign, ORUN is around 75% done and we are on track to debut the final product February 2019, barring no unexpected complications. The majority of the funds from this Kickstarter will be used on art commission, paying our amazing design team what they're worth, and to further develop future sourcebooks for release. The best part about becoming a backer, however, is you'll get it earlier than everyone else for helping us make it a reality in the first place!

Shipping is the bane of all Kickstarters, and we will be charging shipping as we fulfill each item. YOUR PLEDGE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE COST OF SHIPPING. Backerkit will be used to collect your shipping information, take any additional preorders, and charge you for your shipping down the line. What this does is clean up the process for everyone involved, and it means the funds raised by this Kickstarter will 100% go toward making ORUN as amazing as possible.

Estimated Shipping Costs

Domestic Shipping: For shipping within the US, expect around $5-10 per package.

EU/AU/CA Shipping: The majority of associated countries are easy to ship to, such as EU, AU, and CA. Expect each package to cost roughly $15-20.

Everywhere Else: Shipping everywhere else will be around $20-25 per package.

Stretch Goals

Funded!

At $7000 we'll be able to add even more of the gorgeous art you've already seen and loved.

At $8500 we'll add an additional species, the Ako’Obirin, a race of two separate species, the Ako and the Obirin, that evolved to become a third. When united, the Ako’Obirin is intelligent and able to make cognitive leaps like no other species. This has led to the saying “Clever like an Ako, shrewd like an Obirin.”

At $10,000 we'll add a second species, the Ndichie, an idolized 1.5-meter tall polished metal funerary automaton of the Oyan dead. All Ndichie resemble the Oyan family member they house, crafted to look like the person at the peak of their existence. Ndichie bodies vary in appearance, determined by resources available to the bereaved family. The face of the Ndichie is a single piece of metal crafted to look like the dead persons face, with photo-emitters projecting a hologram of the animated construct on top. The hologram allows the grieving to interact with the dead, talking to the construct.

At $11,500 we'll add a third species, the Karok, small large-eyed, fur-covered creatures standing .5 meters tall, outside of their armored battle suits that is. Their fur ranges in color from deep grey to bright pink with eyes ranging from powder blue to gold. Four large incisors protrude from their mouths. Their battle suits can range from 1-7 meters and in a range of colors and materials, depending on the whim of the individual Karok and the functionality of the suit itself.

At $13,000 we'll add the Vuu as a playable species. They were once a sentient virus that infected a host completely, taking over its consciousness. Now the Vuu are a chimerical amalgam of the many different races they’ve infected. Oyan, Khoban, B’bocci, and Fitora features are prevalent in the Vuu with some characteristics being active or less evident. No Vuu is ever without an aspect of the four species they infected during their years of expansion, and all share some element of the four parent species.

At $14,500 you'll be able to play an Igi Eniyan, a plant based species who stand 1.5 meters tall with a skeletal structure covered in vine and leaves that resemble sinew and muscle fiber. They have heart-shaped head The deep green pods with three shiny amber eyes and a special forked petal “chin” that conceals their mouth. The colorful petals that fan around their heads, along with large, fibrous petals that form wings on their backs, range greatly across sub-species in shape and can appear anywhere from dark blue to vibrant gold and red in color. Retractable stamens form a knot of vines at the center of their chests. Under their arms are glands that resemble fruit sacs. These sacs produce edibles with several effects that range from narcotics to healing juices, depending on the Igi Eniyan’s diet.

At $16,000 we'll bring you the Holowan, 1.5-meter-long quadrupeds with two large expressive black eyes above a mouth with small square teeth. From the brow of their heads grow two long crystal-like horns that curve back towards their shoulders. Long leaf like ears sweep back, accenting their elegantly long neck. The Holowan’s short velvet fur range in color from honey brown to dark gray, while their horns resemble growing crystal of various colors. Black, green, blue, violet and brown are the five colors of the Holowans’ crystals and are usually determined by caste and the minerals leached from the area they live in.

At $18,000 Brie Beau Sheldon will be creating an antagonistic world for us, tentatively called Aye Syn. Aye Syn is a remote frontier planet that has only recently been approached at all, primarily by the Fitora. The climate varies between the poles and the major landmasses have temperate forests and arid deserts as the typical landscapes. So far, everyone who has tried to establish a colony has fled soon after, citing frightening stories that forced their escape - and they have yet to mention any other residents.

Brie Beau Sheldon

Brie Beau Sheldon is a queer nonbinary game designer, journalist, and editor for projects such as Let Me Take a Selfie, Firefly: Smuggler's Guide to the Rim, Lusus Naturae, Behind the Masc, and the Baby Bestiary (Volumes I & II). Their work is often published through Thoughty and with Daedalum AP, but they also do freelance work for a variety of clients. Brie's style is about the way things feel, with an emphasis on consent and identity. They're also the creator of the Script Change toolbox and Leading with Class. Above all else, Brie lives to ask questions.

At $20,000 we'll bring you The Mirrorrim from Christine Beard. Their home planet destroyed long ago, the Mirrorrim - a diminutive species of amphibious beings no longer than a foot in length - now live in small voyager-colonies, spread across space. Despite being a peaceful people, they are hunted wherever they settle for the secretions of their skin, which when properly processed, creates an addictive drug with a vivid, hallucinogenic high. Living on the dark sides of planets and moons, they are translucent and nearly invisible unless caught in light, when their skin reflects and refracts it into a bright array.

Christine Beard

A lifetime love of games has led Christine to where she is now, contributing to games through her writing and design work. Over the past three years, she has had the fortune to contribute to the worlds of 7th Sea, the World and Chronicles of Darkness, and Spire.

At $22,000Nicole WInchester will write a Merchant House for Orun dedicated to not only fashion and beauty but also practicality. There, the citizens create regalia for all the People that will enhance one's abilities, protect one's weaknesses, /and/ will look equally stunning at an Oro Lord's gala as in a firefight. For a price, of course.

Nicole Winchester draws on her background in television to create tabletop RPGs and larps with dramatic story and cinematic sensibility. Her work examines themes of identity, memory, and privilege and marginalization, often exploring the past for stories hidden in history. She has written for Green Ronin’s recently Kickstarted ’The Expanse’ RPG, John Wick Presents’ ‘7th Sea’ line, The Fate Codex, and the Toronto Star. She is also an award-winning social media storyteller and a veteran of three Olympic Games with CBC Olympics. She can be found everywhere online @noizangel and is a co-founder of Fair Escape Studios, producer of larps and interactive experiences. She finds adventure by travelling, larping around the world, and exploring her hometown of Toronto. Find out more at nicolewinchester.com.

Nicole Winchester

At $24,000Lucian Kahn will write a sect of the Ministry dedicated to the aesthetic of the proper types of song in their quest to recreate the song of the cosmos.

Lucian Kahn is the designer of Dead Friend: A Game of Necromancy, Grandma’s Drinking Song, and Same Bat Time, Same Bat Mitzvah. He is currently developing Visigoths vs. Mall Goths. Follow him on twitter: @oh_theogony.

Lucian Kahn

At $26,000Kira Magrann will bring us Piqquitos, a technological marvel of a jungle planet where the people believe in living closely with their ecologies despite their tech. Many of the dominant tech centers are careful who they'll deal with outside of their planet, because they've been burned in the past and have a planetwide consortium who's regulations are well protected. Most cities are so integrated into the jungle they're difficult to spot by the untrained eye. The environment is dangerous, but they've adapted well, and much of the rest of the planet is covered in ocean water.

Kira is a tabletop roleplaying game designer, queer nonbinary cyborg, and snake mom living in Columbus, Ohio. She currently has a Patreon where she designs experimental games, a YouTube channel where she talks about game design, and she blogs a few times a month at Gnome Stew. Along with excellent collaborators she also curates More Seats At The Table. Follow her @kiranansi and find her work at: https://kira-magrann-xf7x.squarespace.com/

Kira Magrann

At $28,000 Jonaya Kemper will create the Akorfa, a Dynasty of Oro Lord musicians and poets whose artistic skills are so advanced they have the peculiar ability to warp their audiences’ emotions. Once a popular family with schools and dotting the planet, their numbers were decimated in the Sopona Wars, and some of them used their powers for great evil. Now the ones who remain engage in a cosmic struggle between themselves to elevate the galaxy, or fall prey to the hubris of fame and fortune.

Jonaya Kemper is an activist, educator, writer, game designer, and games scholar who believes that games are an excellent path to liberation for people of marginalized identities. One of the Lead Developers Lands of Gold and Fire, for John Wick Presents 7th Sea, she has also recently written for Renegade Studios Kids on Bikes, and the recently kickstarted North Sea Epilogues for Garphill Games. She loves nothing more than to create new and inventive worlds, and blogs about games, life and identity over at www.jonayakemper.com.

Jonaya Kemper

Digital Wallpaper Pack

Pledge $5 or more and we’ll send you a collection of some of the gorgeous images from Orun suitable for backgrounds on your phone, tablet, or computer.

ORUN PDF

Pledge $20 or more and you get a full color PDF of Orun, plus the ORUN Digital Wallpaper Pack.

Pledge $75 or more and you get a print copy of ORUN, and as a kind gesture we will also send a print copy to a gamer from a marginalized community who may not have the same access as others plus you’ll get the ORUN Digital Wallpaper Pack and ORUN PDF

Retailer Tier

Pledge $150 or more and get 5 print copies of ORUN for your store, as well as 5 physical copies of our Quickstart to disseminate to your clientele.

True Ascension

Pledge $300 or more and we’ll work with you to add your idea to the book. Create your own spotlight character, Antagonist, Creature, or Ship. You’ll also get the ORUN Digital Wallpaper Pack and ORUN PDF, plus we’ll donate a copy in your name.

New Agenda Publishing is a consortium dedicated to promoting diversity in the RPG community through our hiring and choices. We want to amplify underrepresented voices and help them tell new stories from their perspective. Our current board members are:

MISHA BUSHYAGER - WRITER, EDITOR, MARKETING MANAGER

Misha is a longtime gamer and GM working on raising the next generation of geeklings. She’s written for multiple games including Chill: SAVE, Lovecraftesque, and Dead Scare and was an editor of the award winning #Feminism collection of nanogames. She blogs gaming inspired fiction at BlackGirlGameWorks.com and is a curator for the More Seats at the Table newsletter.

JERRY D. GRAYSON - WRITER, PRODUCTION MANAGER

Jerry has designed and published games since 2002. Flattered that others find his small efforts amusing, his proudest industry works are GODSEND Agenda, HELLAS: Worlds of Sun and Stone, and ATLANTIS: The Second Age. When not creating games that have all uppercase letters in the title, Jerry works on becoming a better human being through acts of civility and kindness to others. Jerry has been writing books set in and around Africa for years. And the books he’s written are fun, bold productions filled with awesome art and great characters. A little known fact; If tickled Jerry will hiccup cinnamon and glitter.

ELOY LASANTA - WRITER, GENERAL MANAGER

Eloy is an ENnie Award winning game designer, having created many of his own worlds, like Part-Time Gods, The Ninja Crusade, and AMP: Year One along with several custom systems to power new ways to play games, like the Pip System Corebook. He has a philosophy of using games to bring people and families together, leading to a combination of family-style and traditional games being available from his company, Third Eye Games. Eloy is prolific and enthusiastic about the future of gaming, which is why he’s almost always smiling.

David Castro is a Puetro Rican writer from New York City. He has worked on the upcoming Undead supplement for Chill Third Edition, and is working on launching a Patreon. You can find him on Twitter (@theinkedknight), on Tumblr (thedevilsyouknew), on Facebook (facebook.com/inkstainedstudios), and at davidrcastro.com

Samantha Day is a writer from upstate New York. She makes Twine games, plays and runs tabletop RPGs, and sometimes streams them. You can find Sam on Twitter, and you can find her projects on itch.io. She is a threat to her environment and she refuses to go extinct.

Tim and Kristin Devine love to hack, design and play games. They share a passion for storytelling and together they formed Dice Up Games with several games in the process of being published. You can find more information on their website at www.diceupgames.com as well as several free games.

Sharene Gilchrist is a veteran gamer and DM. It’s no surprise Sharene was drawn to fantasy and sci-fi from a young age – her father named her after a Conan character. She has been playing and running a wide variety of roleplaying games (tabletop and LARP) for over 25 years and has been enjoying live-streaming games in the last few years. She reads a lot, has an overactive imagination, and is also a crafter who loves to sew on her 110-year-old treadle sewing machine when she can get the cats to stop knocking things off it. You can find her as Madfishmonger online at https://linktr.ee/madfishmonger

Robert Jeffrey II is a freelance writer with over 13 years of experience. Robert was chosen along with 5 other writers (out of more than a thousand applicants) to take part in the 2017 DC Comics Writers Workshop. He’s the creator/ writer of the Glyph Comics Award nominated/ winning comic book series Route 3, Editor In Chief of BlackSci-Fi.com, has contributed to such anthologies like Dark Universe: Bright Empire, and is co-writer of the Glyph Comics Award nominated Radio Free Amerika. His client work includes work done for the Centers for Disease Control and Nitto Tires, and he currently co-hosts the New Wakanda podcast.

Kathryn Mariko Lee is an avid anime, visual novel, and games-of-all-sorts enthusiast who loves to create. In 2016, she graduated with a Masters in Popular Fiction from the Stonecoast Creatve Writing MFA Program. Recently deciding to quit her day job, she now freelance writes/edits full time for companies such as Choice of Games, interactive fiction start-up, Legendary Affinity, and now NAP! Kathryn runs on Jesus and boba, and can be found pursuing a myriad of hobbies, including but not limited to crocheting, dancing, acting in community theatre, and figure skating.

Alexa Fae McDaniel is a young author and historian soon to be featured in Maiden, Mother, and Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes, an anthology of fantasy short stories written entirely by trans women and trans femmes. She often runs roleplaying games for children, because she believes that RPGs can be a great tool for teaching math skills, problem solving, literacy, and patience. The patience is mostly learned by trying to keep a party of children together.

Thomas Manuel is a writer, RPG lover and secondhand book fiend from Chennai, India. He has three plays to his credit. His latest play, Hamlet and Angad, won the Hindu Playwright Award in 2016. He works as a freelance journalist writing about data, comics, cultural criticism, labour politics and higher education. He can be found on twitter @notrueindian (www.twitter.com/notrueindian) and his website (www.notrueindian.com).

Nell Raban works in software development by day and writes and designs games by night. In her former life she wrote plays and dramaturged and critiqued theatrical productions around the American Midwest, and her performance scholarship has won awards you’ve never heard of. Nell is currently developing a roleplaying game about marginalized communities called The Others (coming soon to an itch.io page near you) and is attached to a number of other unannounced projects. When she’s not writing, Nell can be found wandering the streets of Chicago chasing her next big idea, tweeting idly as @nell_do_well or lapping at the dregs of a cup of coffee.

Alex Whalen is a freelance writer and editor, previously published for creative nonfiction in Prick of the Spindle and Digital Americana Magazine. Also a prodigious writer of fantasy and science fiction stories, and a game master for the last five years known for her lengthy narrative codices, Alex is committed to honesty and inclusion in all writing, drawing on the truth and variety of the real world to breathe life into fictional ones and dream of what could be. This will be her first foray into writing professionally for roleplaying games.

Whitney Delaglio, Jei, Vincentius Matthew, Julio Rocha

Whitney M. Delaglio is a lawful evil game designer, artist, and creator of the brand Little Wish Productions (LWP). Her favorite artistic themes are sexy, spooky, and super cute. Some of her favorite subjects are merfolk, spiders, werewolves, and endless legs. She recently finished her first game, Prism, which is an aquatic RPG about sensuality, relationships, and conflict resolution. As a support class in the gaming community, she is an advocator of providing a safe space for intimacy and emotional vulnerability.

Jei has been a professional illustrator since 2006 for card and RPG clients such as Warhammer 40K, Airmech, Aplibot : Galaxy Saga. Jei also designed a robot for Hasbro and some book covers including Axis Animarion, Volta, and many more.

Vincentius Matthew is a concept artist and has been in the industry for at least 8 years. He works mainly for video games and films, designing their characters, environments, props, anything. He had experience working for AAA games such as Street Fighter V and Marvel VS Capcom Infinite. He loves traveling, books, and coffee. Drawing has been his hobby since he was very young, and always thanks God that he could make a living by doing what he loves.

Julio Rocha is an illustrator and concept artist working for several publishers, creating visual for games and books. He has played numerous hours of RPG. Always loved all things fantasy/sci-fi and is inspired by the art on those. You can find his work here: http://www.julioport.com

Risks and challenges

The book is 95% done. We're in the editing phase and waiting for some of the art. Both Jerry and Eloy have extensive experience running and fulfilling Kickstarter campaigns. We're confident we can keep to the timeline we've set for ourselves here.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 300 or more
About US$ 300

True Ascension

With this tier, you get to work with our design team to add your own unique signature character, antagonist, creature, or ship design that fits into the world of ORUN. This includes a piece of art to be added into the game as well!